A fresh and intriguing opening gambit quickly descends into a lightweight, low-stakes romp that calls to mind some of the previous season’s most torturous efforts. A frantic, yet at times astoundingly thoughtful, performance from Jodie Whittaker just isn’t enough to carry fifty-one minutes of prime-time television - not when the script has the plot playing second-fiddle to an emasculating agenda, and the ambition of the effects is not accommodated by the budget. This episode may not have the “wobbly sets” of urban legend, but it is built on a woefully unconvincing space termite. Bad move.
Even the Doctor’s new friends, who until this point have been as key to revitalising the show as Thirteen herself, falter here. Everyman Graham turns out to be an avid fan of Call the Midwife, which might be convenient for the plot, but doesn’t sit well with his characterisation to date. Ryan fares even worse as what was clearly intended to be ‘his’ episode is robbed of any emotional weight by the utterly preposterous execution. Almost a quarter of a century on from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s greatest cinematic failure, and nobody’s learned anything.
‘Blip’ doesn’t quite cover this one; ‘deterrent’ is the sad truth of it. Flashy lenses and showy aspect ratios aren’t worth a thing if your principal special effect can’t pass muster, but even that is the least of your problems when your narrative is as absurd as this episode’s turned out to be.
The new series of Doctor Who airs on Sunday nights on BBC One and this episode is available to stream or download on BBC iPlayer in the UK, where the preceding 150 episodes are also currently available. A series pass is available from iTunes for £23.99.
